Almost Paradise
by Carol
Summary: Darien, Claire and Bobby crash land on a deserted island with injuries and no counteragent. Will they survive?
1. Default Chapter

Almost Paradise (1/?)

By Carol M.

Summary: Darien, Claire and Bobby crash land on a deserted island with injuries and no counteragent. Will they survive?

Rating: PG-13 for violence and possible reminders of Sept 11 attacks

Spoilers: None in this part

Disclaimer: Come on UPN, WB, TNN, TNT, etc. you know you want to be the new owners of this wonderful show!

Note: Pull out the ropes people, I'm giving you a few cliffs to hang off of. The next Devil's Silver story will be coming soon, but right now I wanted to have a little adventurous fun with our favorite trio. This fic is one part Castaway, one part Survivor and about two parts Gilligan's Island. Probably won't be posting everyday cause I'm pretty busy, but I will try to get this thing really rolling soon. Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving everyone and enjoy the story!

An old guy named Tennyson once wrote "And paint the gates of Hell with paradise." Well, what we were about to find out is that sometimes even the prettiest pictures have evil lurking behind them.

"Keep, have I ever told you how much I hate to fly," came the slightly annoyed voice of Bobby Hobbes as he stared at the large, ancient-looking military jet sitting on the slick runway of the Misawa Airbase in Japan.

Darien, who was standing next to his partner with heavily lidded eyes that were threatening to shut, yawned. "As long as I can curl up and go to sleep, I really don't care if we fly halfway across the world," said Darien.

Claire smiled in amusement as she handed the last of her luggage to the bag handlers. "Actually, the distance from Japan to San Diego is approximately half-way around the world, Darien."

Darien rolled his eyes. "Okay, can we save the geography lesson until after my nap." 

Bobby shook his head. "I don't know how you can sleep on these things, Fawkes."

"Awww, what's the matter, secret agent man afraid to get in a little airplane," mocked Darien as he started walking towards the plane.

"Yeah, yeah, make fun all you like, Fawkesy, but do you know what to do in the event of a crash, huh?" asked Bobby with raised eyebrows as he followed his partner.

Darien turned and looked at Bobby. "Bend over and kiss my skinny see-through ass goodbye?" he said with a half smile.

"Funny, Fawkes, very funny," said Bobby sarcastically.

"Hobbes, we went over all of this on the flight over here, can we not do the whole déjà vu thing now?" asked Darien with anger.

Bobby looked taken aback. "Yeah, sure, whatever you say, Fawkes," he said in a hurt tone.

Darien turned around with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry, man. It's been a tough couple of days, you know?"

Bobby nodded and patted Darien on the back. "Not a problem, partner."

Darien took a moment to look back towards the military base that just three days earlier had held the possibility of freedom and a normal life. The trio had flown to Japan to meet Dr. Harry Grey, a brain surgeon that Claire had discovered had worked with Kevin during the planning stages of the quicksilver gland. She had contacted the doctor and explained Darien's situation. Dr. Grey had agreed to meet Darien and see if there was a way to get the gland out of his head for good. 

Surprisingly, the Official had given them all permission to go to Japan. Claire had gone along to assist the doctor with his tests, and Bobby had gone along to protect his partner in case any locals got wind of the Invisible Man being in town and tried to steal him. It had been a hard and exhaustive trip, especially for Darien. After three days of quicksilvering, tests and lots of needles, Dr. Grey determined he could not remove the gland without killing the host.

Darien tried to act like it was no big deal, like he had expected Dr. Grey to fail from the beginning. But the truth was, Darien was taking the news very hard. He wanted nothing more than to go home to his own bed, bury himself under the covers and cry like a baby.

At the moment however, he would settle for curling up in the uncomfortable seats of the plane the Official had chartered for the trip. Darien sighed as he stepped up the rusty stairway to the rickety old plane, feeling sore and exhausted.

"Looks like this baby's on her last legs," commented Bobby as he followed Darien up the staircase.

Claire chuckled from behind him. "I really don't think the Official would let his two most valuable agents fly in a plane that was unsafe, Bobby," she said as she clutched a shiny black briefcase tightly to her chest.

"Don't count on it, Keep," said Bobby.

The trio made their way up the rest of the steps. At the top of the stairs, they were greeted by the stocky, gray-haired pilot and his only slightly thinner and slightly younger co-pilot. "Good to see you folks again. Did you have a nice trip?" asked the pilot.

"Yeah, what can I say, it was wonderful," said Darien sarcastically as he sat in a tacky, orange seat in the first row of the 40 row plane. His long legs protested the large metal panel directly in front of him, but then again airplanes were never known for their leg space.

"Ignore my partner. He just got a little bad sushi, that's all," said Bobby as he took a window seat across the aisle from Darien and immediately buckled his seatbelt.

Claire gave Bobby a sharp look and took the aisle seat next to him. She immediately pulled down her tray table and took several file folders out of her briefcase.

"Doing a little light reading there, Keep?" asked Darien as he glanced at the classified documents spread across her tray table.

She looked over at Darien and smiled sympathetically. "I'm just going over this data again. We might have missed something."

"Thanks for trying, Claire, but you aren't going to find anything new," said Darien dejectedly.

"I can try," she said with a determined look on her face.

Darien gave her a small appreciative smile and then stretched out in his seat, closing his eyes.

Claire's eyes darted to the window as she heard the engines of the plane roar to life. Late afternoon light drifted through the window onto her seat causing her to feel warm and toasty on the chilly plane.

"Should be about a 14 hour flight, folks. Make yourselves comfortable and enjoy the ride," shouted the pilot from the cockpit.

"Yeah, easy for you to say, pal," whispered Bobby under his breath.

Claire rolled her eyes and went back to reading.

An hour later, Darien was snoring softly in his seat and Bobby was staring nervously out the window. Claire glanced at her watch and realized it was time to give Darien his shot. She reached into her briefcase and pulled out a shot of counteragent and an alcohol wipe. Then she carefully unbuckled her seatbelt and stood up, stepping quietly towards Darien.

She grasped one of his arms, which was curled up at his side and gently straightened it, trying not to wake him. She turned his wrist to check the tattoo, which read six red, three green.

Darien moaned softly and opened his eyes. "Wuz happenin?" he mumbled.

"Shh, I'm just giving you your shot," she whispered as she swiped the crook of his arm with the alcohol.

She inserted the needle into his vein and injected the counteragent into his body. Darien hissed at the initial pain and then after a few moments, relaxed back into the seat. He looked up at her with wide, lazy eyes.

Claire reached up into an overhead bin and pulled out a blanket, draping it over Darien. "Go back to sleep," she whispered.

"Hmmm mmm," muttered Darien as he once again closed his eyes.

Claire sat back down in her seat and buckled her seat belt. She glanced at Bobby who was looking over at Darien with concern. "Is he going to be okay?" he asked.

Claire smiled sadly. "I think he's worn out and depressed from getting his hopes up so high. I know he's trying to hide it, but this has got to be very hard for him."

"Maybe when we get home we can take him out on the town, you know, cheer him up a bit," offered Bobby.

Claire nodded in approval. "I think that would be good for him."

She was about to go back to her reading when a sudden shimmy caused her to look towards the cockpit in a slight panic.

"Just a little turbulence, nothing to worry about," the pilot shouted back at his passengers.

Another bump, this one even larger forced Darien out of his much-needed sleep. He looked over at Claire and Bobby with bleary-eyed concern on his face.

Claire opened her mouth to explain, but all that came out was piecing scream as the plane violently started to shake.

"Oh god, oh god, we're crashing, we're crashing!" screamed Bobby.

"You folks might want to buckle your seatbelts. We've hit a rough patch of air," shouted the co-pilot back at the trio.

Darien sat up and immediately buckled his seatbelt. He looked out the window and realized that the now dusky view of the Pacific Ocean seemed to be getting closer. "Aw crap," he whispered as his face went deathly pale.

The plane started to lean down in an almost nose dive, throwing the crew and passengers forward roughly. The plane picked up speed as it plummeted towards the ocean. An alarm sounded in cockpit causing the pilot to mutter a string of curses. "We're losing altitude, brace yourselves, we're going down!" he yelled.

Claire and Bobby instantly grabbed onto one another both nearly hyperventilating with the intensity of their breathing.

Darien looked over at his two friends with terrified puppy dog eyes. "I love you guys!" he shouted.

Claire reached her hand across the aisle and grasped Darien's hand so hard her knuckles turned white. "Darien, Bobby, I love you both," she tearfully screamed.

Bobby grabbed on tighter to Claire and reached over with his other hand to try and touch Darien. "Fawkes, you're the best friend I ever had, bro. Claire, you're gorgeous, smart and funny, and Bobby Hobbes loves you," he proclaimed loudly.

The three friends continued to hold one another as the ocean got closer and closer. After a few moments, the plane started to shake even harder causing the trio to break apart. Darien's hand was forced out of Claire's and his body was jerked to the right against the window.

"Keep!" he screamed in a panic. His body started to randomly quicksilver, making different parts of his anatomy disappear, appear and then disappear again.

"We're about to hit! I can make out a small piece of land up ahead, I'm going to try and land her," yelled the pilot.

Darien stole a glance out the window and a few seconds later, saw a stretch of sand covered in palm trees. The bottom of the plane took out the tops of several trees as the aircraft barreled past the island.

"Son of a bitch!" screamed the pilot.

The plane skipped across the water once and bounced back in the air, tossing the plane's occupants around in their seats.

Darien closed his eyes as the plane was about to make its second and final descent into the water. "See you in a few minutes, Kevin," he whispered to himself.

Seconds later, the plane impacted with the water. Darien's body was violently lurched forward, his head bashing against the panel in front of him and his seatbelt clawing at his stomach painfully hard. He blacked out almost instantly.

Claire and Bobby, still gripping one another tightly, were thrown side to side in their seats, sending Bobby into the window and flinging Claire into the armrest. As water slowly started leaking into the plane, an eerie silence filled the cabin as it was slowly turned into a metal coffin.

TBC 


	2. Part 2

Almost Paradise (2/?)

By Carol M.

See first part for details.

Thanks for the kind words, guys! Enjoy the next part!

Claire was the first to wake up after the crash. She looked around in confusion and then after a few moments remembered what had happened. She felt a cold sensation around her feet. As she looked down, she realized to her horror that her feet were slowly being submerged in cold, ocean water. 

She looked to her left and saw Bobby slumped against the window, his left shoulder bent at an odd angle. "Bobby!" she yelled, trying desperately to wake him up. She fiddled with her seatbelt and after several failed attempts managed to unhook it. She leaned over Bobby and started to tap him impatiently in the back. "Bobby, you have to wake up, we have to out of here!" she cried out urgently.

With a loud, ragged moan, Bobby jerked awake. He turned his head and saw the terror in Claire's expression. He too could feel the water slowly starting to seep into the plane. "Are you okay?" he asked as he noticed a large blood stain on the sleeve of her shirt.

Claire looked down and saw a large gash in her arm. Other than that, she seemed to be remarkably free from injury. "I'm fine, what about you?" she asked as she stood up and tried to assist him out his seat.

"I whacked my head, and I think my shoulder might be dislocated, but other than that I think I'm okay," replied Bobby as he accepted Claire's assistance and stood up from his seat. "What about Fawkes?"

Claire looked to her right and saw Darien slumped forward in his seat. The only thing keeping him from falling flat on his face was the seatbelt attached securely around his middle.

"Bloody hell! Um, Bobby, can you walk?" asked Claire in a slight panic.

Bobby nodded.

"Good, go check the pilots, I'm going to help Darien," she said as she carefully stepped to Darien and felt for a pulse. It was a little weak, but it was there. She kneeled down next to him and brought his face up to hers with her hands. She noticed a nasty looking gash on his forehead accompanied with a rather impressive bump. "Darien, wake up, wake up, we're in trouble, come on!" she practically screamed into his ear.

A small moan escaped Darien's lips and his eyes fluttered opened. They closed again when the pain of a thousand knives seemed to stab him in his forehead. "Hmmm, hurts," he whimpered in misery.

"I know it hurts, Darien, but right now we need to get out of here. Do you think you can get up?" she asked.

At that moment, Bobby returned from checking the pilots. "Both dead," he said grimly. He knelt down next to Claire. "How's he doing?" he asked as he glanced at Darien's pale face.

"I think he has a concussion, probably other injuries as well. We have to get him out of his seat," she said as she reached for the buckle of his seatbelt. Darien gasped as she inadvertently pressed her hand against his stomach. She played with the buckle and after an eternity got it loose. He fell forward into her arms as the only thing that had been holding him upright was taken away.

"Okay, okay, I got him," said Claire as she managed to pull the lanky agent to his feet. Bobby took his good arm and locked it around Darien's waist. "What now?" Claire asked Bobby.

They didn't have time to make a decision. Water suddenly broke through the back of the plane, rushing towards them with a loud roar. The force of the water knocked them all off their feet and pushed them through the front window of the airplane that had shattered under the pressure of the water. 

Bobby and Claire both lost their grip on Darien and ended up in limbo under the water, the suction from the plane preventing them from moving towards the surface. After about 30 seconds, Bobby was able to gain enough power to push himself upwards. He grabbed Claire's hand with his uninjured arm and pulled her up with him. They both broke the surface with hard gasps, fighting for breath. The chill from the water was already settling in their bones, making it hard to think..

"Where's Fawkes?" heaved Bobby with concern.

"I don't know!" cried Claire. She looked around and all she could see were pieces of metal from the plane, some of them bursting with flames.

Bobby dived back under the water and looked around, not seeing anything. He resurfaced in a panic. "Where the hell is he? You don't think he quicksilvered do you?"

Claire shook her head and dived under the water herself. Bobby quickly followed. After about 10 seconds, she spotted a figure floating in the water about 10 feet away. She pointed towards the figure and her and Bobby raced over to it. Sure enough, she recognized the long legs and beat up jacket Darien had been wearing earlier. Claire and Bobby latched on to Darien and quickly brought him up to the surface.

"Oh god, how is he?" asked Bobby as he held Darien in place so Claire could look him over.

"I got a pulse, but he's not breathing," cried Claire. Bobby held Darien tighter against him, Darien's head flopping back onto Bobby's chest. Claire forced Darien's mouth open and started to breathe for him.

"Come on, buddy, don't die on me," yelled Bobby as Claire continued to breathe into his partner's mouth. 

After about two minutes of mouth to mouth, Darien finally coughed up the ocean water much to Claire and Bobby's relief. He opened his eyes and looked around at the crash site around them. "This isn't happening," he moaned.

"Actually, it already happened, my friend," said Bobby as he continued to hold Darien up in the water.

Darien whimpered as a slice of pain ripped through his body. He started to shiver violently as the cold water chilled him to his core. Claire took him from Bobby's arms and put him in her own, inspecting his head wound. "We have to get him out of here," she said grimly.

"Yeah, well where the hell do you want to go, huh Keep?" asked Bobby.

"Island," muttered Darien as he struggled to keep himself above the surface. He pointed to the south. "We passed land about 30 seconds before we crashed," he whispered breathlessly.

Bobby looked to where he was pointing and could faintly make out a line of palm trees in the dusky light that was quickly turning very dark. He looked up at his partner. "Think you can make it, Fawkesy?"

Darien nodded weakly, looking not at all sure of himself. "I can try," he said.

Claire grasped Darien's right arm while Bobby grasped his left arm and together the trio slowly began swimming towards the island.

It took them nearly 45 minutes to reach the small stretch of sand and by the time they did, it was in the pitch black of night. The trio staggered in exhaustion up the shores of the island. Darien's legs gave out from under him and despite the fact that both Claire and Bobby were gripping him tightly, he fell face first into the sand.

"Oh god, Darien!" said Claire as she sat down next to him and rolled him over. Sand was stuck to his face, but Darien didn't really mind since he had passed out into oblivion. Despite his unconscious state, his body shivered violently from the cold of the ocean. Claire pulled up his eyelid with her finger, trying to see if his pupils were dilated but she couldn't tell anything due to the lack of light. "Bobby, I can't see anything, how I am supposed to help him if I can't see his injuries!" yelled Claire who was nearly in tears.

Bobby put a hand on her shoulder and knelt down next to her. "Claire, just calm down, okay. Will just let him sleep it off and tomorrow, bright and earlier you can look him over. There's not much we do right now anyway," he said in the calmest voice possible.

Claire closed her eyes and nodded miserably. "How's your shoulder?" she asked.

"It's out of the socket. We can fix that later," said Bobby, not really wanting to deal with the intense pain that came with putting a dislocated shoulder back in place. "Besides, the ocean water has kind of numbed it up."

"Right," said Claire. She looked back at Darien and shook her head. "Look, can you go dip this in some water so I can wipe his face off," said Claire as she removed her jacket and handed it to Bobby.

"Sure thing, Keep," said Bobby as he stood up and turned towards the shore.

At the same moment, Claire rose and grabbed Bobby injured arm, pulling it firmly back into place.

"Owwww!" yelped Bobby. "What did you do that for?"

"I wanted you relaxed so it wouldn't hurt," she said as she sat back down next to Darien.

"A little too late for that, don't you think?" he said as he stalked off towards the water, rubbing his aching shoulder.

Claire turned back to Darien and tried to finger comb his wet, sandy hair. "It's going to be okay, Darien, I promise," she whispered.

Bobby returned several seconds later with her now dripping wet jacket. Claire took it from him and wiped all the sand off Darien's face and hair. Then she stuck the jacket over his head wound to try and clean it off a little.

"Hey Keep," said Bobby.

"Yeah," said Claire absently.

"You're bleeding," he said as he took off his jacket and ripped off a sleeve.

Claire looked down at her arm and realized it was covered in blood. "Damn it!" she yelled through clenched teeth.

Bobby knelt down and wiped off the blood with the sleeve off his jacket. Then he tore off another section and tied it firmly around her arm despite the yelp of pain she gave as he fastened the makeshift bandage tightly around the cut. Claire looked up at him gratefully. "Thanks. How's your head?"

Bobby put a hand to his slightly achy head and came back with no blood. "It's fine, just a little sore, but I don't think I have a concussion," he said as he dropped down on the ground on the other side of his partner who was shaking badly. Bobby took his hand and started to rub it against Darien's arms, trying to warm him up.

Claire sat down on the other side of Darien and started to do the same thing. "We just need to keep him warm. We'll keep him warm and then in the morning I'll examine him and a search plane will find us and everything will be fine," babbled Claire.

"Keep, it's going to be okay," said Bobby reassuringly.

Claire nodded and smiled. "I know," she said. A couple of seconds later, she lay down in the sand and brought Darien into her arms. "We should try and get some rest."

Bobby agreed and stretched himself out against Darien's back, resting his good arm against Darien's shoulder blades and tucking his bad arm underneath him.

Within minutes, Claire and Bobby were fast asleep with their unconscious friend tucked protectively between the two of them.

Five hours later, Darien woke up feeling sick to his stomach, dizzy and cold. He jerked up and instantly regretted the motion as not only his head, but also his neck protested with waves of intense pain. Claire and Bobby woke up at the sudden motion.

"Darien, Darien, are you all right?" asked Claire as she put her hand on his chest and pushed him back to the ground.

Darien shook his head. "I'm gonna be sick," he managed to get out before he pushed himself up and turned around, vomiting everything he had eaten that day and then some. He felt two pairs of arms supporting him so he wouldn't fall face first into his mess.

"God Fawkes, why'd you have to throw up near our bed?" said Bobby jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

Darien shook his head in misery and couldn't hold back the tears that pierced his eyes. He looked at Claire and his pitiful expression nearly broke her heart. "I want to go home," he whispered as he tilted his head up stiffly. "And I think I have whiplash," he added.

Claire shook her head and pulled him into her arms. His body was shaking again, even worse then before. She let his head fall against her shoulder and held him tightly as he broke into sobs. "Shh, it's going to be okay. You're going to be fine," she whispered soothingly. After a few minutes he seemed to calm down a little bit. Claire eyed Bobby, pleading for some help.

Bobby took the hint and stood up from his sitting position. "Come on, buddy, we're going to move you to a nice fresh stretch of sand, okay."

Darien nodded and let himself be pulled up to his feet with assistance from Claire and Bobby. They slowly walked him about 10 feet to the right and sat him down again. Darien looked at both of them with a slightly embarrassed look on his face. "I'm sorry I kinda lost it back there," he said softly, wiping at a few stray tears.

Bobby shook his head. "Don't be partner, it happens to all of us, including yours truly."

Darien snorted. "Yeah, some how I doubt it, but thanks for trying to make me feel better, partner," he said as he lay back in the sand. A small grimace escaped his lips as his hand drifted to his stomach.

"What's wrong, Darien? Does your stomach hurt?" asked Claire with concern as she moved his hand and replaced it with her own.

"Owwww, yeah it does," he said as he felt her hands probing his sore midsection. "Seatbelt got it," he said breathlessly.

Claire continued to palpitate the area, trying to determine if there was any internal bleeding. Not that there was much she could do about it right now, she thought to herself grimly.

"Claire, stop, please… it hurts," whimpered Darien through chattering teeth. He closed his eyes as a wave of dizziness passed through his body. 

Claire stopped examining Darien's stomach and gave him a reassuring caress on the forehead. "From what I could feel, you just have some swelling and bruising and maybe a few cracked ribs, but I don't think you have any internal bleeding."

"Hmmm mmm," mumbled Darien as his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out again from pain and exhaustion.

"Damn it," yelled Claire in frustration. She once again lay down and took Darien into her arms, still feeling his quaking body.

"Well, at least he woke up, right," said Bobby as he lay down next to Darien again.

"Yeah," she said quietly.

"It'll be better in the morning, you'll see. It'll warm up, you can examine Fawkes closer and we can try to figure out a way off this island," said Bobby as he stifled a yawn.

"I hope you're right," she said as she rubbed her hand repetitively across Darien's chest. But somehow she knew that things were going to get a whole lot worse before they got better.

TBC 


	3. Part 3

Almost Paradise (3/?)

By Carol M.

See first part for details

Note: Well after reading Mike's script I don't feel so bad for torturing Darien in practically every one of my fics. I guess us fic writers aren't the only ones who like torture him, huh? On with the story…

Bobby Hobbes had woken up to a lot of strange things in his life, but he didn't think anything could ever compare to this. He realized to his horror that he was being attacked by hair. Brown hair. His partner's hair. Somehow in the middle of the night, his face had rolled against the back of Darien's head and had stayed there. He quickly sat up and spat on the sand next to him. He loved his partner and all, but eating his hair was just a little too close for comfort. He shook his head in disgust and rolled his aching shoulder. This whole thing was just too weird.

He shook his head and looked out at the ocean. He couldn't stifle the gasp of awe that escaped his lips as he looked out at the morning sunrise. The sky was a thousand different colors; reds, purples, pinks, oranges, even greens. The colors reflected against the water, making the ocean look like it was sparkling with the colors of a twinkling diamond. The air smelled salty and sweet, almost heavenly. He had to admit that even though they were stuck here against their will, it wasn't half bad.

He turned around and looked at the tropical landscape behind them. There was about 20 feet of white crystalline sand followed by a thick forest of palm trees and flowery shrubs. In the background of the palm trees, he could make out a large cliff, which seemed to have a glittery waterfall pouring from the top.

Bobby turned his head to look back at his furry-headed partner and his Keeper. Claire's arms were wrapped completely around Darien, and he was tucked protectively against her body. He was glad that Darien had someone that genuinely cared for him. He knew that Claire's ultimate job was to protect the gland, but she couldn't hide the fact that she was in Darien's corner and always would be. She would protect him to the end and that's just what Darien needed, whether he would ever admit it or not.

He smiled slightly and called out Claire's name softly. When she didn't respond, he called her name again, a little louder this time. She groaned and sat up slowly, taking care not to jostle Darien. "Morning, Bobby," she mumbled.

"Morning, Claire. It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said as he pointed at the sky and back at the palm trees behind them. 

Claire looked around and a small smile grew on her lips. "Not bad at all," she said in appreciation. She glanced down at Darien, who was still unconscious. She grabbed his shoulder, rolled him over and shook him slightly. He moaned, but didn't wake up. She sighed and cursed under her breath. Then she began to undress him, lifting his body up so she could take off his jacket and his shirt. When she was done, she lay him gently back in the sand and began to examine his torso in the bright morning light.

She saw that his head wound had bled during the night. She quickly tore of a piece her shirt and ran to the ocean to dip it in water. When she returned, she gently wiped the dried blood off of Darien's face and scalp. Once she had cleared the dried blood, she was able to get her first clear view of his actual injury. He had a very deep gash across his forehead and a large purple bruise and bump in the center of the cut.

She grimaced and gave him a light caress on the cheek.

When she finished examining his head, she moved down to his waist to examine his stomach. A large black bruise stretched from the bottom of his ribcage to below the waistband of his pants. The bruise ran across his entire stomach and stopped near his sides. She undid the top button of his pants and pulled the zipper down a little bit so she could see the remainder of the bruise.

Bobby turned his gaze towards Claire and Darien when he heard the sound of the zipper. "Jeez, Keep, you trying to molest him over there or what?" he asked.

Claire's face flushed. "No. Come over here and take a look at this," she said as she pulled his pants down slightly and saw where the black bruise tapered off into a sickly looking green and yellow.

Bobby stood up and walked over to Claire and Darien's position, glancing at the nasty looking injury on Darien's belly. "Ouch," he winced in sympathy. "How is it?"

Claire pressed down on Darien's stomach eliciting moans and groans out of him. It felt a little tender but it didn't show any signs of internal bleeding. "I think it's okay, at least for right now," she said with a small smile.

Darien's eyes opened in a small slit filled with pain. "What are you trying to do, kill me?" he whispered hoarsely.

Claire gave him a bright smile. "Good, you're awake. How do you feel?" she asked.

"Sore, tired, you know, the usual," he responded as he looked down and realized his state of undress. "Um, I'm just curious, why am I laying in the sand half-naked?"

"I needed to examine you," replied Claire.

"Uh huh, sure, you were just trying to check out my hot naked body," he said with a teasing smile.

"Ah, Fawkes, I hate to break it to you, but it ain't so hot there, my friend," replied Bobby sarcastically as he sat down next to Darien.

Darien rolled his eyes and looked up at the two of them curiously. "So what now?" he asked as he struggled to sit up. The struggle stopped when his face turned white and he nearly passed out again. "Okay, maybe I'm just better off down here," he whispered as he closed his eyes and swallowed hard.

"Well first off, I'm going to take a little stroll around Gilligan's Island here and see exactly what it is were working with. Maybe I kind can some food and fresh water while I'm at it," said Bobby as he stood up, grasping his shoulder.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're not going anywhere Bobby, you're hurt," said Claire.

"What's your point, Keep? I'm fine, okay. You stay here with Fawkes and make sure he doesn't accidentally drown himself again. I'll be back in an hour," said Bobby as he took off in a brisk walk to their right.

"I'm going to time him," said Darien as he messed with his watch. His body tensed when he saw his tattoo. "Oh my god," he said softly.

"What, what is it?" asked Claire with concern.

He looked up at her with puppy dog eyes. "We don't have any counteragent, do we?"

Claire shook her head. "No, we don't, Darien," she answered truthfully.

"So in six," he glanced at his tattoo, "no, make that five days, I'm going quicksilver mad on a deserted island. A deserted island with no tranq darts, no straitjackets, no padded rooms. What the hell are we going to do?" he asked in a panic.

"Calm down, Darien. We're going to be rescued anytime now, okay. The Official will have the entire San Diego fleet of planes searching for us, just relax," she said soothingly.

Darien shook his head. "This isn't what you signed up for Claire. You're not supposed to get stuck on some island with a homicidal maniac running loose," he whispered close to tears.

"Stop it, okay, just stop it," she said gently as she wiped a stray hair out his eyes. "Look, we're in a tough spot right now, but we've been in tough spots before and everything has turned out all right. Come on, you got Bobby in full survival mode, me in full doctor mode and you in full sarcasm mode. How can we not succeed?" she said with a smile.

Darien laughed slightly and smiled. "I guess what you're trying to say is, we deal with the madness when it actually happens, right?"

Claire nodded.

"No use worrying about something we can't change," he added.

"Exactly," she said.

"You should have been a psychologist, Keep," he responded.

"I already am," she said with a laugh.

"Yeah, no kidding," he answered. He looked her up and down, and a small frown appeared on his face. "What about you? How are you doing?"

Claire shrugged and showed him her arm. "I got a little cut here, which I think is getting a little infected," she said as she pulled up the bandage and looked at the crusty cut. "Hopefully the cavalry will arrive before it needs to be cut off."

Darien nodded. "What about Hobbesy, how's he doing?"

"He bumped his head and dislocated his shoulder, but he's doing okay," she replied.

"Good," he said softly. "Hey, do you think we could move into the shade for awhile. The sun's making me feel kind of crappy."

"Sure," she said as she helped him to a sitting position.

"Oh god, this is gonna hurt, isn't it?" he moaned.

"Yep, now come on," she said as she carefully pulled him to his feet. He clasped his arm around his stomach and let himself be led over to a spot under a shady tree. Claire set him back down on the ground gently and helped him to lay back.

"Claire," he said softly.

"Yeah," she answered.

"Thanks for taking care of me," he said.

"My pleasure," she said with a smile.

****

The Official stared up from his paperwork in disbelief. "What do you mean it never arrived, Eberts?"

"Apparently, the plane went off the radar half-way during the trip and never reappeared," answered Eberts.

"You mind telling me why we weren't informed that the plane had gone off the radar?" asked the Official with anger.

"Apparently the air traffic controller was bringing in a whole fleet of planes and lost track of it," said Eberts as he checked his watch. "When he realized it was gone, he tried to radio the plane for approximately two hours but never got through. Fawkes, Hobbes and the Keeper were due back nearly three hours ago, sir."

The Official picked up his phone and dialed a number harshly. "Where is my plane?… Excuse me? Do you want me to have my superior call you? Yeah, yeah starts with a G and ends in an E. No, I didn't think so. I want a search plane gassed up and in the air within an hour," yelled the Official as he slammed the phone down.

Eberts looked at the Official attentively.

"Eberts, pack a bag, we're going on a little trip," said the Official.

Eberts gave him a small smile. "Right away, sir."

****

"Well I've got good news and I got bad news, which do you want first?" asked Bobby as he returned from his one-hour tour of the island.

"Bad news," said Darien and Claire simultaneously.

"Okay, well the bad news is, there is no way off this island and there's no freshwater," he said grimly.

Darien raised his eyebrows. "So…ah…what's the good news?"

"The good news is that there's food," said Bobby as he tossed three coconuts in the sand.

Claire looked up at him and gave him a big smile. "Well done, Bobby."

Bobby nearly blushed. "Thanks. Oh, I almost forgot, I got you both presents," said Bobby as he reached into his pockets.

"Presents?" asked Darien in amusement.

Bobby pulled out a large red hibiscus flower out of one pocket and handed it to Claire. "I thought this might look pretty on you," he said.

Claire smiled and thanked him. She tucked the large flower behind her right ear.

"This is yours Fawkes," said Bobby as he pulled out a multi-colored shell and handed it to Darien.

"Ummm, what is this, buddy?" asked Darien.

"It's a friendship shell, partner," responded Bobby.

Darien chuckled, admiring the beautiful shell. "Thanks, man."

"Okay, first things first, how are we going to eat these things?" asked Bobby as he picked up a coconut.

Darien looked around, searching for anything that they could use as tools. His gaze landed on Claire's high heeled boots. "Keep, take of your shoe."

"Huh?" she said.

"Your shoe. We can use the heel to pound open the coconuts," he said.

Bobby smiled with pride. "I've taught you so well."

"Hey, I will have you know that I learned all my survival skills from the Boy Scouts!" said Darien as he slowly sat up.

Claire took off her shoe and looked at him with doubt. "You were a Boy Scout?"

"Well, no. But I used to terrorize all the Boy Scouts, you know, steal all their crap, pull pranks on em. I think some of their knowledge rubbed off on me," said Darien as he took the shoe from Claire and reached for a coconut. He planted the fruit on the ground and then firmly hammered Claire's heel into the top of it. It split open, allowing the whiteness of the fruit to peak through. "Walla," said Darien proudly.

He repeated the action to the other two coconuts and soon the trio was enjoying breakfast. When they were finished, they sat around admiring the view for a few minutes. Darien sank back to the ground and clutched a hand to his aching stomach. "What's next?"

"Now, my friend, we find a way off of this island," said Bobby.

TBC


	4. Part 4

Almost Paradise (4/?)

By Carol M.

See first part for details

Note: A little comic relief in this part. Who knew truth or dare could be so much fun! Don't worry, plenty of angst, action, torture and suspense to come, I promise (evil grin). Enjoy!

Darien swayed uneasily on his feet as he dragged the last of the palm fronds to their designated spot in the sand. Being the stubborn little punk he was, Darien had insisted on helping Claire and Bobby with the help sign they had spent all day building. But now, his stomach, head and neck were paining him beyond belief and to top it off, he had a killer sunburn. He threw the palm frond down in the stem of the P and then collapsed right there in the sand.

"Fawkes! Damn it, Fawkes, we told you, didn't we," said Bobby as he dropped his own palm frond and ran over to help his partner. He cringed when he saw Darien's red back. "God, partner, you look like an ad for Red Lobster."

Darien moaned in misery and sat up, trying to ignore the pain radiating from every part of his body. His stomach protested the movement and he threw up in the sand next to him.

Claire heard the noise and immediately set down what she was doing and ran to Darien. "Damn it, I knew we shouldn't have let you help us."

Darien shook his head. "The sooner we get off this thing the better, okay. You need my help to get all this crap done."

"Not if you're going to die on us," said Claire as she rolled him over and looked at his back. "I think you successfully managed to burn off the top layer of skin on your back," she said.

Bobby picked up Darien's discarded shirt and threw it in the sand next to Darien. "Yeah, see what happens when you go shirtless, hotshot. You get your little baby skin burnt to a crisp."

Darien rolled over and pushed Claire's hands off of him. "God, can you both just shut up! Look at this!" he shouted as he showed them his wrist. "Look at it! When this thing turns red, you're both going to die, okay. I'm gonna go psychotic, and I'm going to kill you!"

Darien pushed himself up from the sand and stood up uneasily.

"Fawkes…"

"No, just leave me alone, okay, I'm fine," said Darien as he staggered off down the beach.

"Darien, you're not all right, you're hurt, you need to rest," yelled Claire.

Darien waved her off and kept walking.

Claire gave Bobby a helpless look. "Now what?"

"Just let him alone for awhile," said Bobby.

Claire nodded uneasily and went back to working on the sign amongst the late afternoon light.

***

"We have to call off the search for today, it's going to be dark soon," called Clyde from his position on the deck of the aircraft carrier parked out in the Pacific Ocean. Clyde was the head of the rescue operation to find Darien, Bobby and Claire, and he had quickly become a pain in the Official's ass.

The Official stepped close to him and scowled. "My people are still out there, we're not stopping!"

"Sir, with all due respect, they're probably dead, okay. That line of planes is ancient. If it crashed into the water, it probably exploded into a million pieces. You aren't going to find anything out there," he replied.

"No, no, you don't know these people. They're the most stubborn group of people I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Trust me, they're still out there somewhere," said the Official.

"Regardless, we have to call off the search for tonight. I'm not risking my men for what is probably going to turn out to be a lost cause," he said as he radioed in the five planes searching for Darien, Claire and Bobby.

"When this is all over, you'll be out of a job, I can guarantee it," said the Official with anger as he walked away from Clyde.

***

It was dark and chilly when Claire decided to go look for Darien. He had been gone for nearly three hours and she was getting extremely worried about him. She had left Bobby at their temporary camp where he was trying to get a fire going. 

She had been walking along the shore for nearly a half-hour when she finally found Darien. He was curled up on a rock near the shore, staring at his friendship shell. 

"So this is where you disappeared to," she said.

Darien looked up at her and she could tell even through the darkness that he had been crying. "Yeah, what can I say, even without the quicksilver I'm undetectable."

She sat next to him on the rock and placed a hand on his quaking bare back. "How are you still conscious?"

"I don't know. I think the brooding has helped to heal some of my injuries," he said as he ran his hands over his arms. "So is this part where you reassure me that everything is going to work out fine, that we're going to get rescued, and I don't have to worry about going mad and killing you?"

Claire shook her head. "No," she said pulling something out her pocket. "This is the part where I rub aloe on your sunburn and then bring you back to camp so you can lay near the fire."

"You got a fire going?" asked Darien with surprise.

Claire cocked her head to the side. "Well, not exactly, but I'm sure by the time we get back, Bobby will have burnt down half the island."

"Yeah, you're probably right about that," he said with a half smile. He looked down at the tiny stalk of green that Claire was holding in her hand. "Where did you get that?"

"I found a whole little patch of aloe plants while I was getting branches for the sign," she said as she broke the stalk and clear liquid flowed on her hand. She took a dollop and rubbed it gently across Darien's back. "Is that better?"

Darien nodded. "Yeah, thanks," he said.

She rubbed a little more onto his back and then lifted up her bandage and rubbed some into her cut. Then she reached at her side and pulled his discarded shirt out of the waistband of her pants. "Here, put this on before you freeze to death," she said as she tossed it in his lap.

He put it on with care and then sighed deeply. Claire snuggled closer to him and rubbed his back softly.

"You ready to go back now?" she asked.

Darien smiled. "Might as well. Watching Hobbes try to start a fire is going to be better than watching the freakin super bowl," he said as he stood up from the rock and let Claire help him back to camp.

****

Bobby's face glowed from the reflection of the fire that danced through the night. Every couple of seconds, he would glance proudly at the large fire that had taken him nearly two hours to start. It was a triumph in the name of Bobby Hobbes. He looked at Darien with a wicked gleam. "Truth or dare?"

"How about truth?" said Darien a bit apprehensively as he moved closer to the fire.

"In the past year, how many times have you had sex?" said Bobby with a smirk. "With another person," he added.

Darien blushed and looked awkwardly over at Claire. "Isn't that a little personal, Hobbesy?" he said.

"Personal is the name of the game, my friend. And don't lie, cause I can tell when you do," said Bobby.

Darien sighed and rolled onto his stomach, putting his face in the sand. "Fine. Once okay, one freakin time! You happy?" came Darien's muffled voice.

"Yes, I am," said Bobby with a large smile.

"Okay buddy, you're turn," said Darien as he lifted his face up. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare!" said Bobby confidently.

"I want you to moon us from the water," said Darien with a smile.

Claire instantly broke out into giggles.

Bobby gave Claire and Darien an embarrassed glance. He stood up, rolled his shoulders several times and then strutted towards the water. Once he was about a foot deep, he bent over and took off his pants, baring his bottom towards Claire and Darien.

Claire blushed and had to stifle her laughter with her hand.

"Don't get much sun, do you Hobbesy?" cried Darien in amusement.

Bobby pulled his pants back up and walked back to the pair. He looked at Claire and gave her an annoyed stare. "Don't think you're getting off so easy here, missy. Truth or dare?"

"Truth," she said softly.

"What are you the most proud of?" asked Bobby.

Claire gave him a serious stare for a few moments and then looked over at Darien. "I'm most proud of us," she said. "I'm proud that I work on the QS9300 project. I'm proud to keep Darien healthy and sane. I'm proud to be a part of something that makes a difference. Most of all, I'm proud to have you guys as my friends."

Bobby raised his hands. "That was beautiful, Claire."

Darien agreed. "It was, I'm nearly in tears here, Keep."

Claire smiled evilly. "Well, I'm glad you liked it boys, because I have a little double dare for the both of you."

"And what's that?" asked Darien.

"I want to see you both naked," she said.

Bobby scoffed. "Come on, Keep, you just saw my ass, what more do you want?"

"I want to see both of you naked. Now come on, don't be shy, take it all off," said Claire with a wide smile.

"Ah, Keep, did you mix some alcohol into that coconut cocktail that we don't know about?" asked Darien.

Claire put her hands on her hips. "Fine, if you don't want to stand here naked, then at least streak for me."

"Claire come on, this is just wrong, I'm an injured man here," said Darien as he faked a whimper and clutched his stomach.

"Hmm, funny, you were able to make it half-way around the island before," she teased.

"All right, fine," said Darien as he looked over at Bobby. "Hobbesy, let's give the lady what she wants," he said as he struggled to his feet.

"Fine with me, I've got nothing to be ashamed of," said Bobby as he started to follow Darien down the shore. "But don't think that your dare isn't going to involve naked cartwheels and a coconut bra there, Keepy."

Claire laughed and watched the two partners walk down the shore. They stopped after about 30 feet and looked back at her apprehensively.

Darien glanced at Bobby. "Are we really going to do this?"

"Of course we are, my friend. We're not wusses. Take it off," said Bobby as he took off his shirt and his pants.

"Okay," said Darien apprehensively as he stripped off his shirt, shoes and pants.

They both stood there awkwardly in their underwear for several seconds. 

"I'm waiting," Claire shouted.

Bobby looked at Darien with a determined expression. "Let's do it!" he said.

Darien nodded and he and Bobby both stripped at the same time. They both went barreling down the shore towards Claire, Darien running at a much slower pace then Bobby so he wouldn't hurt himself.

"Woohooo, boys, very nice!" Claire shouted. She started whistling and doing catcalls as she took in the very nice scenery. Once they ran past her, Claire dashed off in the other direction towards their clothes.

"Oh no you don't!" yelled Bobby when he realized what she was doing. "Let's get her, Fawkes," he yelled as they both turned around and ran after Claire.

Claire reached their clothes and picked them up in a huge bundle. Bobby and Darien came up swiftly behind her, both covering their most private parts with their hands.

"Keep, come on, give us our clothes back. It's getting cold!" yelled Darien in an embarrassed tone.

"What are you going to give me for them?" she asked slyly as she held them up in the air.

"We'll convince the fatman to get you a better computer," answered Bobby quickly. "Right, Fawkes?"

Darien nodded. "Absolutely."

Claire smiled and threw the clothes at them. "Deal," she said.

Bobby and Darien quickly picked up their clothes and put them back on as fast as possible. Both were blushing furiously.

Bobby was about to dare Claire to pour coconut juice on herself and then lick it off, when a huge bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.

"Aw crap," said Darien softly.

"Aw crap nothing. Rain means water which means we don't have to drink that coconut crap anymore," said Bobby eagerly. He started back towards their camp. "Let's get all the empty coconuts and line them up. We can use them to catch the water."

"Bobby, we're going to lose the fire," said Claire grimly as she followed him.

"There's nothing we can do about that right now. I got it going once, I can do it again," said Bobby.

Darien turned towards the ocean and looked up at the starry sky that was quickly turning cloudy. Rain meant water, but it also meant the rescuers wouldn't be able to see them if the rain continued through the night and into the next couple of days. He sighed deeply and turned around, glancing absently at the large cliff in the distance, the waterfall reflecting off it in the starry night. He groaned and slowly walked up the sand towards their camp.

TBC


	5. Part 5

Almost Paradise (5/?)

By Carol M.

See first parts for details

On with the story…

Charlie Borden had discovered in the past two days that he really, really hated rain. It was a revelation that came as a great shock due to the fact that as a child his primary hobby had been splashing around in puddles and making himself dirty.

This rain meant delay. This rain meant that Darien, Bobby and Claire could be dead or dying. This rain meant he wouldn't find anything out until it stopped. Charlie was a man who was used to having what he wanted exactly when he wanted it. But there wasn't a damn thing he could do about the rain and that was enough to drive him mad.

He sat in a chair in his temporary office on the aircraft carrier staring out the window, wishing like hell that the raindrops would stop and the sun would come out. Sun would mean the planes would start searching again. Sun would mean they had a chance to find them. Sun would mean life.

He looked over at Eberts who was sitting at a table looking at radar images of the plane in its last few seconds in the air. Every couple of minutes, Eberts would look up at the Official and give him a nervous smile. He was glad Eberts was with him. Eberts was his details man, taking care of all the crap that he didn't want to deal with. It freed him up to think.

Thinking. That's something the Official had been doing a lot of the past couple of days. He had come to a startling conclusion during those moments of reflection: he cared about Darien Fawkes. Hell, he even cared about Bobby and Claire. He realized they were his family, his kids. He wanted them back safe and alive. He didn't care if they all wanted to quit their jobs and move on with their lives when this nightmare had ended. As long as he got them back, Charlie Borden would be a happy man.

***

"Rain sucks," said Bobby from his position next to Darien on the cold, puddling ground. Even though they were lying under a large tree, he was soaked from head to toe and had been that way for the past two days.

He looked at his partner who was similarly drenched, but was not currently conscious. Darien was sick as a dog. His body quaked with shivers even worse then before and every couple of seconds he whimpered in agony. Claire was holding him tightly against her body, trying to give him some comfort, but there wasn't much she could do for him at the moment.

"How's he doing?" asked Bobby as he wiped at his water-filled eyes.

Claire shook her head sadly. "Not good. He's freezing, he's got a high fever, his head wound is infected, his stomach is a mess, the list goes on," she said as she clutched Darien tighter. "God this rain just needs to stop!" she yelled up towards the sky.

"Maybe I could do a rain dance to get the rain to stop?" offered Bobby.

"Hey look at the bright side guys, at this rate maybe I won't have to worry about going insane and killing you because I think I'm probably going to freeze to death anyway," said Darien weakly.

"You're awake!" said Claire.

Darien shivered and curled farther into Claire's arms. "Uh huh. Went it rains, it pours."

Bobby moved closer to Darien and Claire, trying to give them both some of what was left of his body heat. "The rain's got to stop eventually, Fawkes."

"Yeah, well if it doesn't stop in the next," Darien glanced at his tattoo, " oh I don't know, two days, I think we're pretty much screwed."

"So much for building another fire," said Claire.

"Yeah, even if it stops raining, everything's going to be wet for a few days," said Bobby.

"Things just keep getting better and better," whispered Darien. "You know what I would love right now?"

"What?" asked Claire.

"A mug of hot chocolate. Just me and my hot chocolate in my nice cozy bed, the remote control dangling from my fingers," he said dreamily.

"Settle for some coconut juice, my friend?" asked Bobby.

"Sure why not, I'm getting sick of water anyway," said Darien.

Bobby smashed open a coconut with Claire's shoe and then handed it to Claire. She brought Darien's head up and then tilted it so the juice would flow into his mouth. Darien drank all of the juice out of the coconut and wiped his mouth when he was done. "Man, I gotta tell you, if we do get off this freakin place, I'm never eating a coconut again," he said closing his eyes. A second later, his eyes popped open and a sick and panicky expression filled his face. "Gonna puke," he said urgently.

Claire hoisted him off of her and turned him around just in time. Darien vomited all of the coconut juice up and then sank back down to the ground, holding his stomach. "That hurt," he said through clenched teeth.

Claire rubbed his back and kneaded the muscles in his neck. Then she pulled him tightly into her arms and kissed the top of his head. "We're going to make it out of here, I promise," she said.

"Yeah, in body bags," he said. "However weak I am now ain't gonna matter when I go quicksilver wacko, okay."

"Well maybe I'll just knock you out then," said Bobby.

"Yeah, knock me out, knock me out. How long is that gonna last Hobbes? A day, tops? I'm just going to keep coming and coming until you guys are dead and you know it," said Darien. "I think you should just throw me in the ocean and let me drown," he said softly.

"Stop it, Darien! You're our friend, okay. We're going to help you through this," said Claire, nearly crying.

"This isn't some sabbatical on an island, Claire. They might not find us. You guys seemed to be convinced that some magic hand is just going to pop out of the ocean and take us home. And maybe it will," said Darien. "But it might not too. And if it doesn't, you're going to have me running around here. It could happen. Actually, it probably will happen, and you need to be prepared."

"All right, enough Fawkes. We got two days until you reach the beginnings of quicksilver madness. So here's the plan for right now. As soon as the rain stops we bust our asses trying to get off this island. We make signs, we run around naked, anything that's going to be spotted from a plane. We'll worry about two days from now two days from now, okay?" said Bobby sternly.

"Whatever you say, partner," said Darien dryly.

***

Three hours later, the rain stopped and the sun came out, shining brightly across the Pacific Ocean. It was the most beautiful sight the Official had ever seen. Five planes were immediately dispatched to search for the missing trio.

The Official was looking at a map in his office, when a soft knock on the door interrupted him. "Yes?" he said, looking up.

A young woman of about 25 walked into his office, carrying two vials. She handed them to the Official. "Excuse me for asking, sir, but I don't understand why you would need something like this to give to your missing agent. There's enough toxic chemicals in these vials to kill twenty men," she said.

"You sure you followed those recipes to perfection?" he asked.

"Yes, sir, I just don't under…"

"You don't have to understand, it's classified. That will be all," he said, looking back down at the map.

The woman paused in the doorway for a second and then turned to leave. "Thank you, sir," she said softly as she left the room.

"No, thank you," whispered the Official to himself as he eyed the blue and black vials of counteragent.

***

"I can help you know," said Darien from his position in the sand.

Claire firmly shook her head. "Nope, you need to rest," she said as she carried more palm fronds out of the forest to replace their sign, which had floated away in the rain.

Darien sighed and looked up at the sky, cupping his ears to try and make out the sound of an airplane. Nothing echoed back except for the sound of a few squawking birds.

Bobby returned from the woods with a handful of colorful flowers.

"Are we decorating now?" asked Darien.

"No genius. I figure the bright colors might help a plane see our sign better," he said as he set the flowers next to the branches.

"Nice," said Darien. He curled onto his side and continued to watch Bobby and Claire build their sign. After a few minutes, his vision became blurry and he realized that his eyes were filled with tears. "Hey guys," he said softly.

Bobby and Claire both looked towards him.

"Thanks for everything, you know. I love you," said Darien softly, swallowing a hard lump in his throat.

Bobby smiled. "Not a problem, kid."

Claire smiled as well. "We love you too, Darien."

Darien nodded and turned his head away from them, not wanting them to see the lone tear that trickled down his cheek.

***

It was with shocking detachment that Darien watched himself strangle Bobby Hobbes. He squeezed his friend's neck as hard as he could, feeling the muscles in Bobby's throat struggling against him.

He could hear Claire's shouts in the background, but couldn't make out what she was saying. He didn't really care. All he wanted was to kill this man that was in front of him. He tightened his grip on Bobby's neck, turning the older man's face a lovely shade of blue. Bobby had stopped struggling long ago and was now looking up at him with eyes that were slowly being drained of life. Darien pushed on with his goal and when Bobby's eyes rolled back into his head, Darien let out a loud cackle. He dropped Bobby's body to the ground and turned around.

Claire's was standing behind him, a look of terror, pity and shock all wrapped into one horrendous expression on her face. He stalked towards her, closing the distance between them with long strides. She made no attempt to move and seemed to be frozen in her position. He reached her and roughly caressed her cheek. She cringed and then hit him squarely in the stomach.

He was pissed now. He instantly grabbed her throat and started to squeeze. She kicked out at him, but her blows didn't effect him. He lifted her in the air by her neck and then threw her back to the ground. He heard the sickening sound of bones cracking and realized that he had snapped her neck. He bent down towards her body and kissed her lips, marveling at how warm they still felt.

"Oh God!" screamed Darien as he suddenly came awake and bolted upward.

"Fawkes?" said Bobby in a sleepy voice.

"Darien, easy, it's okay," said Claire as she sat up and rubbed the back of Darien's neck.

"No, no, it's not okay, it's not okay, you're dead, you're dead," muttered Darien as he rocked back and forth. He was having trouble catching his breath.

"Fawkes… Darien, we're not dead, we're right here, pal, okay," said Bobby, squeezing his friend's shoulder.

Darien shook his head violently. "I killed you both, I killed you both," he whispered in a terrified voice.

Claire picked up Darien's hand and ran it across her face. "You didn't kill us, Darien. See, we're right here, it was just a dream," she said soothingly.

"No," whispered Darien as tears started pouring down his face.

Claire took a hold him and pulled him firmly against her chest. His sobs were loud and harsh, bordering on hysterical. His body quivered against Claire's from the terrible onslaught.

"Calm down, buddy, just calm down," whispered Bobby as he traced reassuring circles on Darien's back.

After a few minutes, Darien seemed to calm down, but didn't have the energy to move out of Claire's embrace.

"You okay?" she whispered in his ear.

He nodded against her chest.

"Go back to sleep," she said.

He nodded once again.

He lay in her arms for several minutes, waiting for sleep to take him again, but his mind wouldn't let him. He listened to the soft even breathing of Claire and Bobby as they both returned into a deep sleep.

Several hours went by and he continued to lay there, listening to their soft breathing. When he was sure that neither would wake up easily, he gently pulled himself out of Claire's grasp. He sat in the sand between his two friends, eyeing them both intensely. After several long minutes, he leaned down and kissed Claire on the forehead. He leaned in the other direction and did the same thing to Bobby. 

He then carefully stood up and groaned softly at his many aches. He was feeling dizzy and nauseous and had to fight the urge to fall down on the ground and go back sleep. But he wouldn't let himself do it. He gave his friends one last look and blew them a kiss. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his friendship shell, staring at it longingly. He kissed it as well and placed it in the empty space between Bobby and Claire. Then he slowly started walking down the beach, all the while staring at the tall cliff in the distance. He knew what he had to do.

TBC either tomorrow or Wed.


	6. Part 6

Almost Paradise (6/?)

By Carol M.

See first part for details

Note: Holy intensity, I-man. Enjoy…

"Keep going, keep going, keep going," whispered Darien in a mantra to himself as he pushed himself up the rocky path. His chest was burning from the exertion and every couple of minutes piercing stomach pains would stop him in his tracks. He was about one-third up the path to the top of the cliff, guided only by the light of the moon. It was a struggle to keep himself going.

The path was very narrow and located near the edge of the large structure. Every few seconds, he would peak over the edge and have to struggle not to throw up. He had fallen twice, leaving bloody gashes on his knees and elbows. Still he pressed on, desperate to get to the top.

At some point, he realized he was delirious. It was probably a good thing because if he was rational he would probably turn around and head right back to Claire and Bobby. But he had to do this. He would sacrifice himself so Claire and Bobby would live. It was the least he could do for them after all they had done for him.

As he struggled up the cliff, people and images from his past floated through his mind. He could see his mother tucking him into bed when he was a little kid. He saw his Aunt Celia and Uncle Peter taking pictures of him and Kevin as they fished in the river at the cabin. Flashes of Kevin, dying in his arms, raced through his mind. He lost his footing and landed sharply on his side.

He lay on the ground panting, curled up in a little ball, waiting for the pain to subside. He could see Arnaud and Stark standing over him, laughing. "No!" he screamed as he turned his head away and closed his eyes. That was much better. Now he saw pictures of Bobby and Claire, laughing and dancing at an Agency Christmas party. He saw himself dancing around like a fool, trying to kiss Claire under the mistletoe.

He smiled slightly and pushed himself up to his feet. He pressed on. Now there were images of Allianora and Kate and Casey and Jessica. All of those women. All of them gone. Now he was on his own.

***

"No sign of them? Nothing? Is that what you're trying to tell me?" screamed the Official in anger towards Clyde and his rescue crew.

"Sir, we've narrowed the area down to a few thousand miles. First thing in the morning we're going to start looking again," responded Clyde in as calm a voice he could manage.

"A few thousand miles? A few thousand miles? You call that narrowing down! For all we know they could be dying out there and you're telling me you're narrowing it down?" yelled the Official.

"With all due respect, sir, it's been nearly five days. If they did survive the crash, they probably did not survive the billions of creatures floating around the ocean, not to mention the storms of the last couple of days!" yelled Clyde.

The Official stepped forward and put a finger to Clyde's chest. "You find them. I don't care what you have to do, but you find them." With that, the Official walked back towards his office to look at yet another map.

***

The first thing Claire noticed when she woke up was how warm she felt. That was one of the perks of sleeping with Darien in her arms, the man was a good electric blanket. Plus, it was fun to play with his hair. She reached up with her hand, not bothering to open her eyes, waiting to feel the silky hair that was so long she could comb her fingers through it. But now there was only skin, smooth skin with short, barely there hair. What the hell?

Claire opened her eyes and jumped when she realized who was curled up in her arms. "Bobby? What are you doing?" she asked.

"Hmmm," he asked, smacking his lips.

"Bobby," she said sharply.

"What?" he asked, slightly irritated.

"Wake up," said Claire. She looked around in alarm. "Where's Darien?"

Bobby opened his eyes and sat up. "Maybe he went to check out the sunrise," replied Bobby as he lay back down and rolled over. "Oww, what the hell is this?" he said as he felt something poke him. He reached under his back and retrieved the object that had jabbed him. "Fawkes' shell," he said softly. 

Claire looked at him with concern. "You don't think he would do anything stupid, do you?"

"Knowing Fawkes, he would definitely do something stupid," replied Bobby as he sat up and tried to wake himself up.

"Well he probably couldn't have gotten far with his injuries," said Claire as she stood up. Bobby quickly got up as well.

"Where did you find him the other night?" asked Bobby.

"On a pile of rocks on the other side of island," she said as she started walking down the beach. "Come on, let's go look for him," she said as she tugged at Bobby's shirt.

***

Darien was so close to his goal, but he just couldn't quite seem to get there. He was now crawling on his hands and knees, his skin scraped off raw against the rough path. He was so weak and prayed that he would just die right there. But somehow, he didn't think it was going to be that easy for him.

He crawled up a slight incline and when he reached the top, he crumpled to the ground in fear. There it was, the goal staring him right in the face. The edge was less than 10 feet away and a good 200 hundred feet up in the air. It would be perfect. But he didn't know if he had the energy to make it, much less stand up and jump off. But he had to try. It was Claire and Bobby's only hope.

***

"Fawkes! Come on, buddy, enough of this hide and go seek crap, come out!" yelled Bobby as he walked past the rocks that Claire had led him to.

"Darien, please if you can hear us, say something!" shouted Claire.

Bobby put his hands up in frustration. "Where the hell did he go? It's not like he could have just vanished into thin air."

Claire gave him a sharp look.

"Sorry, wrong choice of words," he said.

"Bobby, this is serious, he could be passed out hurt somewhere and we have no way of finding him," said Claire.

"I know, okay, I know. We just have to think," he said as he sat down on the rocks and put his head in his hands. "Why would he leave that rock?" he whispered to himself.

"Unless he wasn't planning on coming back," whispered Claire.

"You don't think he would…" Bobby trailed off in fear. "No, I don't believe that. Fawkes wouldn't do that."

"Bobby, he's hurt, he's stressed out, he's depressed and he's terrified that he's going to kill us," said Claire sadly. "Maybe he thought he didn't have a choice," she said so softly Bobby had to strain to hear her.

"So what, you think he just jumped in the ocean, is that it?" said Bobby. He stood up and started pacing across the rocks. "If that punk isn't dead, then when I find him, I'm going to kill him myself!" he shouted in anger.

Claire shook her head sadly and looked at the rising sun. Her glance moved towards the cliff and her heart nearly leapt out her chest. "Bobby, look!" she said as she pointed up at the cliff.

Bobby turned around and looked up at where she was pointing. Through the bright rays of the sun, he could make out a tall dark figure standing dangerously close to the edge. He turned to Claire and gave her a fierce look of determination. "He's not going to die today," he said as he grabbed her arm and started running towards the cliff.

***

Darien gazed at the crashing ocean down below, marveling at how beautiful it was. To the left of him, was the small waterfall, gargling softly as the water swept over the rocks and sparkling like a twinkling star. From up here, the view was spectacular. He saw the vast forest of palm trees, dotted with the occasional blast of color. He could see the help sign that Bobby and Claire had worked so hard on. It was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous.

He was up so high he felt like he was a part of the heavens. The sun was shining down on him, causing him to feel warmth for the first time in days. It was peaceful and calm and perfect. And he was going to leave it all. 

***

"Oww," cried Claire as she tripped over a rock.

Bobby hurried back towards her. "You okay?" he asked.

She nodded impatiently. "I'm fine, go get Darien," she said.

Bobby acknowledged her and then continued up the rocky path. He was nearly to the top, but he was having problems avoiding the huge rocks and loose dirt all over the path. He stumbled several times, cursing wildly. He could here Claire struggling from somewhere behind him.

He reached a slope and quickly ran up it as fast as he could. When he reached the top, he cautiously walked towards the figure that was standing so close to the edge.

"Fawkes," he said softly.

Darien didn't seem to hear him.

"Fawkes," he said louder.

Darien turned around. A look of panic came over his face. "Don't," he said.

"I'm here to take you down, my friend. I can't let you do this," said Bobby firmly as he slowly stepped towards Darien.

Darien put on a half-smile. "Relax Hobbesy, I'm just enjoying the view."

"Sure you are. Now come on, partner, come back down with me, okay?" urged Bobby.

"I can't," whispered Darien.

"Sure you can, buddy. You just take my hand and we walk off of this ledge and pretend like it never happened," said Bobby.

Darien looked back towards the edge. "I'm not going back," he said through gritted teeth.

"I'm not going to let you do this to yourself, you understand me, kid? You're my friend and you're hurting and I can see all that. But this isn't the answer," said Bobby as he stepped closer.

Darien jerked away, sending a few rocks scattering over the edge. "Stay back."

"Fawkes, this is stupid, okay. They're going to find us any day now. You don't have to do this," said Bobby.

Darien shook his head. "Yes I do," he said, tears burning his eyes.

"Why, huh, why? Why do you have to be so freakin selfish and leave us like this?" screamed Bobby in anger.

Darien turned around, tears running down his face. "Because I don't want to hurt you, man! I don't want to die knowing that I killed my two best friends in the whole world! I can't do that. I won't do that! This is where it ends, right here."

"No, Darien, it doesn't have to end here," said Claire as she came up behind Bobby. "We can help you, we can keep you safe until help arrives," she pleaded. "If you let us," she added softly.

Darien pointed around in the air. "Look around guys. Did you see any planes searching for us? Having you seen or heard anything the last five days that would hint at a rescue?"

"If your brother could see you now," said Bobby, shaking his head in disgust.

"Oh what, what, would he be disappointed in me? Well guess what Hobbes, my brother has been disappointed in me my whole life. Hell, if it wasn't for him we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with," he shouted in anger.

"If it wasn't for him, none of us would have ever met," said Claire softly.

Darien stared at her for a long time, letting the words soak in. Suddenly, another blinding, pain flared from his stomach. He stumbled backwards toward the ledge, the rocks under his feet giving out.

"Fawkes, no!" yelled Bobby as he dashed towards his partner.

"Darien!" shouted Claire as she also ran towards him.

But they were too late. Darien slipped off the side of the cliff, scraping up his torso and bashing his ribs against the rocks as his hands clawed wildly for something to hold onto, but there just wasn't anything to grab.

TBC (Hahaha, a literal cliffhanger. I warned you guys to get the climbing gear out at the beginning of the story, didn't I? To be continued tomorrow, I promise)


	7. Part 7

Almost Paradise (7/8)

By Carol M.

See first part for details

Thanks for the feedback guys! Hope the climbing gear came in handy. On with the story…

Bobby dived towards the edge of the cliff, barely grasping onto Darien's hand. His shoulder flared with pain as Darien's weight pulled it down.

"Claire!" he yelled.

Claire was instantly at his side, grabbing on to Darien's other hand.

"Let me go!" yelled Darien, a pleading look in his eyes.

"No freakin' way, partner," groaned Bobby.

The edge of the cliff started to give, sending Darien down a few inches and causing Bobby and Claire to slide halfway off the edge.

"Let go of me, I'm going to take you guys with me!" screamed Darien.

"If we go, then we go together," said Bobby, looking Darien in the eye. He looked over at Claire. "Come on, Keep, we can do this."

Claire nodded.

"On the count of three, one…two…three…"

Bobby and Claire hoisted Darien off the edge with all their strength. The force caused Darien to land stomach first over the side and propelled Claire and Bobby roughly to their backs on the ground.

The trio lay panting on the ground for a few minutes, trying to catch their breath and their wits.

Darien was about to pass out again. He lay on the ground breathing in sand and gravel, trying to comprehend what had just happened. A hard, sharp ache worked its way from his chest to the pit of his stomach.

Claire picked herself off the ground, ignoring the blood pouring from her reopened cut and crawled to Darien. She pulled him farther away from the edge, all the while eyeing him with intense concern. "Are you all right?" she asked as she gently turned his head towards her.

Darien, who could barely breathe, let alone talk, whimpered and shook his head.

Claire gingerly rolled him over and began examining his new wounds. His shirt had been ripped to tatters with blood peaking through from the skin underneath. She pushed the shirt aside and cringed when she saw the bloody scrapes and bruises all over his torso. She gently pressed against some of the bruises around his ribs causing Darien to groan. She shook her head, knowing that his ribs were at least cracked if not broken.

"We have to get him off this cliff, Bobby," she said softly.

"Aw crap," was Bobby's reply from his position on the ground.

Claire turned her head and looked at him. "What's wrong?"

"I think I whacked my shoulder again," he said as he tried to move the useless limb at his side.

"Bloody hell," muttered Claire under her breath. She patted Darien on the arm and then quickly got up to examine Bobby. She reached for his shoulder and realized that it was indeed dislocated again. "This is gonna hurt," she said grimly as she put her hands into position to pop it back into place.

"Tell me something I don't already know," he said through gritted teeth.

"One, two, three..." Claire jerked Bobby's arm hard and expertly popped it back into place. Bobby's face paled and he fell back on the ground.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Bobby nodded and sat back up. "You're cut opened up," he said, eyeing her bloody arm.

Claire nodded. "I know," she said. She stood up, walked over to the waterfall and stuck her arm in, letting the water clear away the blood. After a few seconds, she took her arm out of the water and tore off the sleeve of her shirt, tying it around the wound.

She looked back at Darien, whose eyes were closed and whose arms were wrapped tightly around his middle.

"All right, how are we going to do this?" she asked as her glance moved from Darien to Bobby.

"I'll carry him," offered Bobby.

"No, no not with your shoulder. You'd probably drop him anyway," said Claire.

She bent down next to Darien and stroked his forehead. "You're going to have to walk, Darien."

Darien opened his eyes and shook his head. "Leave me. I'm not going back with you," he whispered in a pain-filled voice.

"That's where you're wrong, my friend," said Bobby as he carefully got off the ground and walked over to Claire and Darien. He used his good arm to hoist Darien into a sitting position. Then he and Claire grabbed Darien's arms and pulled him to his feet, despite the ragged moan that escaped Darien's lips.

Darien was powerless to stop the forward motion from having Claire and Bobby at his side. He carefully put one foot in front of the other and slowly started walking back down the path with their assistance.

"I'm sorry," he whispered after several minutes of silence.

Bobby stopped the motion and turned Darien so they were face to face. "You got nothing to be sorry for, partner. You were just doing what you thought you had to," he said as he pulled Darien into a strong hug. Darien gently returned the head and let his head rest on Bobby's uninjured shoulder. After several seconds, Bobby broke the hug and made Darien look him in the eyes. "If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I'm going to kill you myself. And don't think for a minute that I won't do it," he said. "Bobby Hobbes," he said hitting his chest with both of his hands.

Darien smiled slightly and nodded. "Check."

He looked over at Claire and gave her an apologetic puppy dog eye look. Claire picked up his hand and gave it a tight squeeze. Then she leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "All right, kids, what do you say we get off this bloody cliff so we can be rescued."

Bobby nodded. "Sounds like a plan," he said as he and Claire once again grabbed Darien and led him further down the path.

***

It took the trio nearly three hours to get down from the top of the cliff. The longer they walked, the weaker Darien became and by the time they got down to the sand, Bobby and Claire were practically dragging him towards the camp.

When they finally got there, Bobby and Claire gently laid Darien down in the sand and then collapsed at his side. Darien rolled over and passed out, ending the hours of pain that had been ravaging his already weak body. Bobby continued to lay in the sand next to his partner, his shoulder one giant ache that wouldn't let up. "You know, all I have to say is that we better be getting paid for our five days out on Gilligan's Island."

Claire smiled and sat up. "You mean Darien's Island."

"Hey, if anyone's going to have an island named after them, it's going to be me," he said.

Claire nodded. "Whatever you say, Bobby," as she slowly got to her feet.

"Where you going, Keep?" asked Bobby in a tired voice.

"I'm just going to get some more aloe. I'll be right back. Make sure Darien doesn't run away again," she said.

Bobby glanced at his unconscious partner and shook his head. "Keep, I don't think ole' D is going anywhere for awhile."

"Yeah, well watch him anyway," said Claire over her shoulder as she disappeared into the forest of palm trees.

"Whatever you say," he said as he rolled over, closed his eyes and promptly fell asleep.

When Claire returned with supplies a half-hour later, she couldn't help but laugh at the scene in front of her. Somehow Bobby had wound up falling asleep with his arm draped across Darien's back, like a big brother protecting his little brother. It was actually kind of sweet. 

She carefully moved Bobby's hand off of Darien and then rolled Darien over so she could examine his stomach. She lifted up his shirt and reached for a piece of material she had dampened with water. She ran the water across the scrapes on his chest and stomach, trying to clean them out somewhat. She did the same thing for the scrapes and cuts on his knees and hands. Then she broke a few aloe twigs in her hands and coated the cuts on his hands and knees with the soothing mixture. She moved to his chest and stomach next, rubbing the aloe into the bloody gashes. She cringed as Darien's stomach muscles quivered at her touch, as if trying to ward off the pain. When she was done, she brought his shirt back down and gave him a reassuring pat on the leg.

She was about to lay down in the sand and take a nap when a harsh scream caught her attention. She looked at Darien and realized that he was once again conscious. He was clawing at the back of his neck, looking as if he was trying to pull the gland out of his head. 

"Damn it," she said as she instantly grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him into her lap. Darien jerked up and groaned, his neck arched and his throat exposed to her. "Help," he whispered softly.

Bobby quickly awoke from all the commotion and looked at his ailing partner with concern. "What's wrong?"

"He's having a pre-QSM attack," said Claire as she rubbed the area between Darien's shoulder blades.

Darien convulsed against her in pain and then just as quickly as the attack had appeared, it disappeared, leaving Darien panting against her chest.

Claire reached Darien's arm and looked at his tattoo, seeing he was at 7 segments red, 2 segments green. Bobby glanced at the tattoo and then stared at Darien. "Why is he getting attacks so early?"

Claire shrugged. "Possibly from all the quicksilvering he did last week. His body might have built up a temporary resistance to the counteragent, causing it to not work as long."

Darien brought his arm up and grabbed Claire's shoulder. "Tie me up, knock me out, do something," he murmured weakly.

Claire shook her head. "Not yet, you're not far enough along to be dangerous," she said as she looked up at the sky. "Now would be a really good time to be rescued."

***

Hours later, the search planes were still actively searching for the trio, looking for any sign of life. Clyde himself was piloting one of the planes, as much to rescue Darien, Claire and Bobby as to get away from the hovering eye of the Official.

He looked towards the sun, which was getting ready to set in about 20 minutes. Time to call it a day. He picked up his radio and connected to the other search planes. "Yeah, guys, it's getting dark. We're going to call off the search for today," he said over the radar.

He put the radio down and looked out his window, enjoying the colors reflecting off the ocean. He was about to make a hard turn to the right and head back to the air craft carrier, when a dot of white ahead caught his eye. He lowered the altitude of the plane slightly and got closer towards the speck of white. "Hot damn," he said as he saw the tiny island with a HELP sign spelled out in the sand. 

He noticed much to his chagrin that there was absolutely no place to land the large plane on the small island. He also noted the fact that it was getting dark. 

He picked up his radio once again "Yeah, this is rescue 1. I think I found them, but there's no place to land. Requesting that base send us a rescue helicopter so we can chopper these people out in the morning, over and out."

Clyde smiled to himself and then finally took that hard right, waiting in anticipation to tell that fat bastard that he had found his men.

***

"Darien, Darien, do you see that! We're saved, we're saved," said Claire, nearly jumping up and down with excitement.

Bobby smiled with delight. "See Fawkes, what did we tell you?"

Darien sat up and looked up at the sky. "So I was wrong, okay?" he acknowledged softly as he watched the plane swerve to the right. "Wait, a minute, why is it turning around?"

"Probably has to go back to the base and get a smaller plane," said Bobby.

"Well yeah, but it's getting dark out. Would they come back and look for us in the dark?" asked Darien with concern.

"Sure they would, wouldn't they?" said Claire as she looked at Bobby.

"What are you asking me for?" asked Bobby.

"Cause you're the one who used to be in the military here, Hobbes," said Darien. He felt a familiar sensation growing in the back of his neck. "Oh god, not again," he said as the pain exploded in his head. He crumpled down into the sand, moaning and groaning at the excruciating pain. "Ahhhh, god, please make it stop" he whimpered.

Claire pulled him off the sand and put him back in her lap, massaging the back of his neck with her hand. "Owwww," moaned Darien. The attack gradually faded and he sunk deeper into her lap, barely able to move.

Claire picked up his wrist and a look of panic swept across her face. "Um, kids, we might not be able to wait until morning," she said as she showed Bobby his partner's wrist. It now read 8 red, 1 green.

"Keep," moaned Darien. "Let me see," he said.

She helped him flip over and then held up his wrist so he could see his tattoo. Darien's face turned white and he collapsed back into her arms. "Aw crap," he whispered.

TBC


	8. Part 8

Almost Paradise (8/8)

By Carol M.

See first part for details

Note: And so the sun sets on Almost Paradise. I think this has been one my favorite stories to write, and I hope you enjoyed reading it! Devil's Silver #9 will be out in the next month or so and maybe another standalone in the meantime. Also look for a really mushy D/C fic this weekend if you're into that kind of thing. Other than that, grab a coconut cocktail and enjoy the last part!

"Claire, god, make it stop, make it stop, do something please!" moaned Darien as he shook with pain against her chest. The attacks were occurring with more frequency now, and Darien was only about an hour away from the ninth segment turning red.

"Shh, it's okay, it's okay," whispered Claire as she rubbed his back and pulled him tightly into her arms. She gave Bobby a helpless glance.

Bobby threw up his hands in disgust. "I don't know what to do for him," he said. "That freakin fat bastard better get his fat ass on this damn island!" he yelled in frustration. He looked over at his partner and watched him shiver with pain and fear. "God, look at him, Keep, he's barely holding it together, and I can't say that I blame him."

"Guys, knock me out, please. Whack me over the head as hard as you have to, just as long as I don't wake up before tomorrow morning," Darien pleaded.

"Partner, you already got one concussion. I think two might be pushing it," replied Bobby.

"Well great, then I'll just kill you then," said Darien sarcastically as he rolled over and beat his hands against the sand in frustration.

Claire gently pushed Darien aside and stood up. "I'm going to see if there's anything we can use to tie him up," she said as she dashed into the woods. "Watch him, Bobby!"

Bobby moved closer to Darien and brought him into his own arms. "Easy partner, I got you, I got you."

"So this is the way it's gonna end, huh? Me in your arms," said Darien with a crooked, pain-filled grin.

"You should be so lucky, my friend," said Bobby with his own smile.

***

The Official was giving Clyde such an evil stare that he was sure the man would melt into one big puddle of fear. "The morning?" The morning? Are you crazy? Time is of the essence here!"

"We can't risk a chopper out in the dark. We're having the base send out a special rescue helicopter first thing in the morning," replied Clyde.

The Official glanced over at a small black chopper sitting on a landing pad. "What about that one?" he asked.

Clyde shook his head. "No, no, no, that's my own personal helicopter. It barely fits me in there, let alone three other people."

"I see," said the Official with a curt nod of his head. "Morning it is then. Thank you for working so diligently to find my men."

Clyde smiled. "My pleasure, sir," he said as he stepped out of the office.

Several seconds later, Eberts appeared. "Any news, sir?"

The Official smiled. "Want to go on a helicopter ride, Eberts?"

***

Darien forced himself out of Bobby's arms and started to run down the beach. "It's close, it's so close," he screamed, holding the back of his head.

Bobby jumped up and ran after Darien, tackling him roughly to the ground. "You're not running away again, damn you!"

"Hobbes, god please, get the hell away from me," cried Darien as he rolled back and forth in the sand in pain.

"Claire!" yelled Bobby into the woods as he forced his knee down on Darien's back.

"Owww," cried Darien. His body convulsed in a spectacular spasm and when the pain ended, Darien's eyes were sparkling with red veins. "Get off of me you bald son of a bitch!" he screamed as he struggled against Bobby's weight.

Claire emerged from the woods, carrying several strings of flexible branches. She sprinted over to Bobby and Darien. "I don't know if they'll hold, but they're all I could find," she said.

Bobby put his other knee on Darien's back and grabbed both of Darien's arms, wrenching them behind his back. 

"I hate you, both!" cried out Darien.

"Tie him down," said Bobby as he struggled to hold his partner who was flailing wildly against him.

Claire began knotting the branches tightly around Darien's hands. She was pleasantly surprised that they actually held. Then she went to work on his feet. He kicked out at her several times, but Bobby managed to sit on his upper legs so he didn't have any strength to power the kicks. She quickly and tightly tied up his feet. When she was done, Bobby continued to lay on top of Darien, desperately trying to hold him in place until help arrived. Hopefully very soon.

***

"Sir, I don't think this helicopter was made to go this fast," said Eberts in a nauseous panic from the passenger's seat of the chopper.

"Don't worry, Eberts. This is just like the old days when I used to fly choppers for the navy. Haven't lost my touch!" screamed the Official in joy as he flew the helicopter over the ocean towards the coordinates Eberts had lifted out of Clyde's office. "You got the stuff?"

Eberts held out the two vials of counteragent and a dart gun. "Yes, sir. Um if I could just a make a suggestion…"

"Shut up, Eberts and enjoy the ride!" screamed the Official as he pulled up the throttle and increased the speed. "Heeeeee hawwwwww!"

***

"I'm going to kill you!" cried Darien from underneath Bobby. His eyes were fully red now and it was getting harder and harder for Bobby to hold him down.

"Yeah, I'd like to see you try, pal," screamed Bobby.

"Fine with me!" said Darien as he quicksilvered his hands and feet and broke free of the branches he had been tied down with. He lurched up and knocked Bobby off his back. Bobby fell roughly into the sand, looking up at the blood red eyes of Darien in shock.

"You should have let me die, Bobby," whispered Darien in a menacing voice.

"Darien," he heard a female voice say from behind him.

He turned around and looked at Claire. "What do you want?"

Claire cocked her head to one side coyly. "You, what else?" she said, eyeing Bobby in the background.

Darien smiled a toothy grin. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Oh really. Come on Darien, you know how much I like it. Oooh, I want you so bad," she said seductively as she sauntered towards him.

Bobby took his opening with the distraction and quickly got to his feet. He let Claire get about two feet away from Darien, then he ran up and jumped on his back. 

"Get off of me!" screamed Darien as he tried to throw Bobby off him.

Bobby responded by kicking Darien repeatedly in his sides. "Not 'til you go down, my friend."

"It's not going to happen," said Darien as he ignored the kicks and ran towards the water. He flipped Bobby over his body, causing Bobby to land flat on his back. "Sorry it had to end like this, my friend," said Darien before he reached down and started to choke Bobby with all of his strength.

"Darien no!" cried Claire as she tried to pull him off Bobby, but he was just too

strong. Darien slapped her across the face with one hand, causing her to fall hard into the sand.

She heard a harsh noise in the distance and glanced up in the sky. She saw a helicopter with a bright searchlight heading straight for the island. She stood up and started waving frantically.

Bobby could make out the sound of the helicopter as well. "Fawkes, they're here," he choked out. 

Darien smiled and squeezed harder. "Yeah, well they're a little too late," he said. Bobby brought his leg up and kneed Darien sharply in the groin.

"Owwww, you little bastard," said Darien in a fury. He tightened his grip, squeezing off Bobby's last drop of air.

Bobby could feel the end coming. His vision was floating and his ears were ringing. His only regret was that he never got to see Claire in a coconut bra. He was making his final peace with earth when something heavy fell on top of his body. He realized after a few seconds that air was returning to his oxygen-starved lungs. "Fawkes?" he said in confusion as he recognized the brown head of hair sitting only inches from his eyes. He saw a face over him, a face that looked so sweet he could kiss it. "Eberts!"

Eberts set down the tranq gun and gently rolled Darien off of Bobby. He extended his hand in Bobby's direction. "Robert," he said with a small smile.

Bobby let Eberts help him off the ground and then pulled him into a hug. "Boy, am I glad to see you."

They parted from the hug and then stared at each other awkwardly. "Took you long enough," said Bobby sarcastically.

"Excuse me, Robert, but…"

"Shut up, Eberts," said the Official as he handed Claire a syringe of counteragent. Claire knelt down next to Darien and carefully removed the tranq dart from his back. Then she picked up his arm and injected him with the counteragent.

Bobby looked towards the small helicopter sitting on top of their help sign. "Couldn't you have gotten anything fancier. You know, something with a stretcher or something?"

The Official stepped towards him "Well I would have, but I figured you wouldn't want that much taken out of your salary."

"Hahahha," said Bobby. "You're kidding right?"

The Official ignored him. He and Eberts gently picked up Darien and headed towards the small helicopter.

"Sir," said Bobby running after them.

Claire took once last glance around the island and followed her friends and coworkers towards the helicopter.

A week later

"Well everything seems to be in order, Darien. You're ribs and stomach are healing nicely, and you should be fully recovered in another two weeks," she said as she stood next to his bed in Lab 3.

"That's good," said Darien softly. "I guess I really do have nine lives, huh?"

Claire smiled. "You certainly do."

Darien looked up at her sheepishly. "Hey Claire, I'm sorry for everything on the island. You know, trying to kill you, kill Bobby, kill myself," he said with puppy dog eyes.

Claire leaned forward and caressed his cheek. "Everything is fine, Darien. We all survived. It wasn't so bad, was it? I mean I did get to see you and Bobby naked after all," she said with a sly smile.

Darien laughed. "Don't remind me."

"And Darien, about the whole Japan trip, I know it wasn't successful, but I promise you that one day I will find a way to take the gland out. You have my word," she said, grasping his hand.

He leaned down and kissed her hand. "I know," he said softly. "Thanks for everything, Claire."

"Ditto," she said.

"Well isn't this cozy," said Bobby as he walked into the lab. He rolled his shoulder and stepped next to Darien's bed.

"Jealous, Hobbesy?" asked Darien.

"Never," he replied. "Ready to go home?"

Darien nodded. "Hell yes, I can't wait to get in my own freakin bed. No offense, but sleeping with sand up my ass isn't really my idea of fun and this contraption ain't much better," he said as he pointed at his bed.

"You boys take it easy now. I don't want to see either of you working for at least another week and then it will only be paperwork," said Claire sternly.

Darien and Bobby eyed one another. "Oh goody, paperwork."

Darien climbed off the bed and stared at his two friends for a few seconds. "Group hug?"

Bobby and Claire both nodded and stepped in towards Darien. The three friends embraced for several minutes, all taking comfort in each other.

When they broke apart, they were all smiling.

Darien cleared his throat. "Ummm, I just have one request."

"What's that, Darien?" asked Claire curiously.

"Everything that was said and done on the island, stays on the island," he said.

"Sure," said Claire nodding.

"Definitely," said Bobby.

"Good. All right Hobbes, let's get the hell out of here," said Darien as he walked towards the door. "See ya Monday for my shot, Keep."

"Bye and be careful," she shouted after him.

"Be right there, Fawkes," yelled Bobby,

Darien nodded and headed out the door.

Bobby looked at Claire awkwardly. "So umm, Claire, I just wanted to say, you know, all that stuff we said in the plane about loving one another. Well I just wanted you to know that I meant it," he said in a slightly scared tone.

Claire smiled. " I meant it too," she said. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, causing Bobby to blush. "Take care, Bobby. I'll see you in a few days," she said.

"You can count on it," said Bobby with a smile as he walked out the door.

Darien was waiting in the van with a smile on his face when Bobby opened the door. "So, did you confess your undying love?" he asked Bobby in amusement.

Bobby smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know," he said as he started up Golda's engines. 

"I would actually," said Darien.

"No freakin way, partner, no freakin way," said Bobby.

"Fine if you don't want to share with your best friend then…"

Bobby looked over at Darien with a serious expression. "Fawkes, I love you man."

Darien smiled and nodded "I love you too. Thank you for everything and sorry I tried to, you know, kill you again."

"Please Fawkes, you didn't even get close," said Bobbby.

"Whatever you say, partner," said Darien as he leaned back in his seat.

Several minutes later, they reached Darien's apartment. "You wanna come in for a few?" asked Darien as he started to get out of the van.

Bobby shook his head. "No, I got a date."

Darien raised his eyebrows. "With who?"

Bobby grumbled. "The Official wanted me to go to lunch with him and the head rescue mook, Clyde. Said I could teach the man a few things."

"Hmm, sounds like fun," said Darien as he held out his hand. "I'll catch ya later, buddy," he said as they slapped hands.

"Hey, aren't you forgetting something Fawkes?" said Bobby as he reached into his pocket and handed Darien his friendship shell.

Darien stared intensely at Bobby, a suspicious lump forming in the back of his throat. "Thanks, buddy," he said softly.

"No problem, my friend. I'll see you later, Fawkes," said Bobby as he drove off in his van.

Darien watched Bobby drive off and then slowly made his way into his apartment building, holding the small shell tightly in his hand. He carefully walked up the stairs, taking care not to hurt himself and then made it to his door. He unlocked it and stepped into his apartment, smelling the smells of home as if they were heaven on earth. He threw his keys on the table and headed for his dresser. He pulled out his favorite pair of pajamas and quickly changed into them. 

Then Darien Fawkes, still gripping his shell, did what he had wanted to do since the start of their disastrous trip home from Japan. He crawled into his bed, curled into a tiny ball and cried like a baby. But he wasn't crying for the gland or for the quicksilver madness or even for his brother. No, Darien Fawkes was crying for his two best friends, because maybe, just maybe, all the crap that had happened to him over the last year was worth their friendship. And maybe, because of them, his life wasn't so bad after all.

That's All Folks


End file.
